I am pretty sure there are a number of people here with dedicated cars that have done this. I need to remove my passenger side airbag but have absolutely NO idea how to do it. could anyone point me in the right direction or give me a blow by blow on how it is done. I would REALLY appreciate any info on how I could get this done. Preferably without removing the dash.


Thanks,
Boyce

--------------------
Resident Open Road Racer
My car is painfully slow
Boyce Goff
Bellevue WA
99 SS Camaro w/ plenty of goodies
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ledfoot2 Posted: Mar 29 2004, 08:51 PM



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Good question, I would like to know as well.

--------------------
1998 Black Trans Am, WS-6, M6, Comp 224/224 581/581 112 cam, "real" ram-air with no wussy baffels in the hood, headers, gutted cats, straight exhaust, BMR STB, LCA and Panhard Rod, Koni SA fronts, Bilstein HD rears, Eibach Pro-Kit Corbeau Forza II's, gutted interior, C5 brake conversion and 305/30/18 Hoosiers.......lots still to do! V-8 class champion '02-'03 South Texas PCA.
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JonV Posted: Mar 30 2004, 04:55 PM



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Makes 3. I was wondering about losing the drivers bag as well, without setting off all sorts of DTC's etc.
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DryStout Posted: Apr 5 2004, 08:09 PM



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It is a pain in the ass. If you have a Helms it is nine tenths of a pain in the ass.

Be prepared to be one step away from removing the dash/instrument cluster from the car and separating the HV/AC ducting from the back of the dash. The airbag/frame width is from the edge of the L side of the dash to just R of the glove box.

Since there are many subassemblies jumping through the Helms is a chore, but there are some tips and tricks in the Helms.

I do not know how many hrs I spent on the removal. However, I am certain I probably spend a lot more hrs on any one project than most people. I would give yourself at least 2 days to complete so you have recovery time from the contortions and scraped forearms [wear gloves]

The airbag support is also there to support the dash. There is a trick to retain a good part of that support on lost on the passenger side of the dash with some ties designed for fixing aftermarket transmission coolers to the radiator [sounds like a kludge, but it worked very well].

Does anyone know if a resistor will keep the airbag light in an off state? It will come on and stay on when the bags are unplugged.

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ledfoot2 Posted: Apr 5 2004, 08:33 PM



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I saw something where a resister would keep the light off. Maybe a 2 ohm? Not sure.

--------------------
1998 Black Trans Am, WS-6, M6, Comp 224/224 581/581 112 cam, "real" ram-air with no wussy baffels in the hood, headers, gutted cats, straight exhaust, BMR STB, LCA and Panhard Rod, Koni SA fronts, Bilstein HD rears, Eibach Pro-Kit Corbeau Forza II's, gutted interior, C5 brake conversion and 305/30/18 Hoosiers.......lots still to do! V-8 class champion '02-'03 South Texas PCA.
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NataSS Inc Posted: Apr 6 2004, 09:47 AM



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yes a 2 ohm resistor will keep the light off.

--------------------
Resident Open Road Racer
My car is painfully slow
Boyce Goff
Bellevue WA
99 SS Camaro w/ plenty of goodies
IP: [ 67.89.235.170 ] Report this post


NataSS Inc Posted: Apr 6 2004, 09:49 AM



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QUOTE (DryStout @ Apr 5 2004, 08:09 PM)
It is a pain in the ass. If you have a Helms it is nine tenths of a pain in the ass.

Be prepared to be one step away from removing the dash/instrument cluster from the car and separating the HV/AC ducting from the back of the dash. The airbag/frame width is from the edge of the L side of the dash to just R of the glove box.

Since there are many subassemblies jumping through the Helms is a chore, but there are some tips and tricks in the Helms.

I do not know how many hrs I spent on the removal. However, I am certain I probably spend a lot more hrs on any one project than most people. I would give yourself at least 2 days to complete so you have recovery time from the contortions and scraped forearms [wear gloves]

The airbag support is also there to support the dash. There is a trick to retain a good part of that support on lost on the passenger side of the dash with some ties designed for fixing aftermarket transmission coolers to the radiator [sounds like a kludge, but it worked very well].

Does anyone know if a resistor will keep the airbag light in an off state? It will come on and stay on when the bags are unplugged.

So it is possible to get it out WITHOUT pulling the dash?

--------------------
Resident Open Road Racer
My car is painfully slow
Boyce Goff
Bellevue WA
99 SS Camaro w/ plenty of goodies
IP: [ 67.89.235.170 ] Report this post


DryStout Posted: Apr 6 2004, 12:08 PM



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QUOTE (NataSS Inc @ Apr 6 2004, 10:49 AM)
QUOTE (DryStout @ Apr 5 2004, 08:09 PM)
It is a pain in the ass. If you have a Helms it is nine tenths of a pain in the ass.

Be prepared to be one step away from removing the dash/instrument cluster from the car and separating the HV/AC ducting from the back of the dash. The airbag/frame width is from the edge of the L side of the dash to just R of the glove box.

Since there are many subassemblies jumping through the Helms is a chore, but there are some tips and tricks in the Helms.

I do not know how many hrs I spent on the removal. However, I am certain I probably spend a lot more hrs on any one project than most people. I would give yourself at least 2 days to complete so you have recovery time from the contortions and scraped forearms [wear gloves]

The airbag support is also there to support the dash. There is a trick to retain a good part of that support on lost on the passenger side of the dash with some ties designed for fixing aftermarket transmission coolers to the radiator [sounds like a kludge, but it worked very well].

Does anyone know if a resistor will keep the airbag light in an off state? It will come on and stay on when the bags are unplugged.

So it is possible to get it out WITHOUT pulling the dash?

It sure is. You have to get every thing loose, unbolt the steering wheel supports, etc

BTW note the URL for this thread:

http://mtfba.org/rrforum/index.php?&act=Po...=1&t=871&p=9814

It is not FRRAX.com - bad news - Note if you go to the frrax site, you will NOT see this thread!

Chris, it's not that hard to pull the dash. Once you do it the first time you'll wonder why you were dreading it so much. With the dash in the vehicle you'd have to get the airbag out from the underside, and man oh man, I don't think that would be easy. While the dash is out you can pull the light bulbs from some of the instrument panel anyway, like skip shift, airbag, etc.

It's a great time to find some more weight to lose also.

Be very careful when working with airbags. Even if you pull the battery connector there are capacitors in the system that will store enough energy to fire it off if you do anything funny. You don't want an airbag exploding in your face. The connectors under the dash for both airbags are all yellow with blue safety wires IIRC.

Hey mike. It was me that posted that thread. chris was kind enough to move it over here from the old board.

Here is my problem.


the bar that goes directly in front of the dash. I cant move the dash. I need to know if there is any way I can get that bag out WITHOUT pulling the dash. I have heard that the little cover on the dash that goes over the bag can be pulled off. Can I get to the bag from there?

I do not think it is possible in your case to remove the bag and its support. Open the glove box; see the screws on the left and right side. That marks the width of the airbag support. The screws are in the support. More is to be seen if you take the glove box off.

If all you want is the bag, I am suggesting that you be prepared to hack on the dash. The panel that you are talking about appears glued in place [I just looked at it from the bottom]. At the top there is a tough mesh that maintains control of the panel during deployment. Otherwise panel is a projectile. There are 4 hex head sheet metal screws that hold the airbag and carrier to the airbag support.

The dash moved towards the back of the car and down for me to get it out. The sad story is it looks like it would have been comparatively easy to get the airbag and support out of there before the cage working and when working on the steering wheel.

I just measured the airbag support and it is an odd shaped piece:
13.75 at max height
10.25 at max depth
15.5 at max width

Hind sight is always 20/20. when I first started with the car the idea was to keep it where I could always take it back to stock if needed. Well, it went way past that point a while ago. So it looks like the bag might be there to stay.

Mike is right. Dash removal isn't too bad, and each time you put it back in you will probably find yourself using 10 fewer screws each time...

Here's the order I do it in... takes about 30-45 min the first time as you find every last little screw:

--A-pillar panels
--Top dash panel by windshield (use a screwdriver, pop gently)
--Instrument and radio bezels
--Instrument cluster
--Check the fuse block and make sure it won't bind against the dash housing
--HVAC controls
--Radio
--Glovebox
--Lower dash panels (below steering wheel, by pedals, and below glovebox)
--Kick panels
--Free any necessary solenoids / sensors from their mounting points (this is the hardest step the first time through)
--Every top screw on dash / HVAC venting
--Every bottom screw on dash / HVAC venting

To pull the dash itself out, treat the dash, passenger airbag, and the HVAC venting as one monolithic unit. I usually sit in the passenger seat with one hand in the hole for the radio and another inside the glove box area and gently wiggle the assembly forward. The hardest part is lifting the assembly around the steering wheel... but once you're over that hurdle you're home free. You'll be left with something that looks like this.



I'll get a cage and seats in that car someday...

Boyce, I have heard of people getting the airbag out without removing the dash, but I'm sure it's not very easy. My crossbar goes underneath the dash, connecting my front bars. I can still remove my dash with the bar there. You might consider redoing some of your cage to make it more friendly for you to enter the car and work on the dash area since you're making it more of a race car now anyway. I doubt it would cost that much and I bet you'll be grateful for the rework several more times while you have the car.

BTW, if you cut out the airbag cover on the dash, you can find replacements I believe, or if you do it cleanly enough you might be able to just reinstall it with some adhesive or the like. With that out and the glovebox you might be able to get the airbag out.

I did it without total removal of the dash . I tried and tried to squeek it out through the bottom with no luck , even with the dash loose . Eventualy I pulled the dash forward and squeked it out from the top . It was a pita but I would think its going to be almost imposible with that bar infront .

That thing is heavy